Facial piercing is an umbrella term that encompasses piercing in the nose, cheek, eyebrow, lips and tongue. Also, nose and lip piercings are categorized into various types, depending upon the exact location, where skin puncturing procedure is performed. Thus, there is a long list of facial piercings. Any type of face piercing you refer to, practicing proper facial piercing aftercare tips is a necessity to promote quick healing. Also, failure to care properly increases the risks of piercing complications manifold. Facial Piercing Information Piercing in the facial parts is a popular way of modifying facial appearance. While face piercings were performed as a tradition in previous times, today they are proceeded for beautification purposes. Being the most prominent part of the body, getting pierced in the face is a tough decision to make. It may leave unsightly scars, particularly when the aftercare tips are not followed correctly. Piercing is like a skin injury, in which the skin is punctured to put attractive jewelry. So, it calls for the same kind of treatment that we usually follow for promoting wound healing. Facial Piercing Aftercare Instructions Actual aftercare guidelines for facial piercing depend upon where the skin puncturing is done. The area should be kept clean at all times, until complete healing is achieved. Also, the piercing site should remain dry. These will prevent infections at the injured area, which otherwise are quite common. Remember that infection is one of the major factors for lengthening the healing period. In severe instances, jewelry worn at the time of piercing is changed with an inert one to allow draining of infections. Here's how to take care of a facial piercing.

• Avoid unnecessary touching of the face piercing. Picking and playing with jewelry cause irritation to the injured area, and increase pain symptoms. And worst part is, frequent handling of the pierced site worsens pain and increases the chances of unwanted infections.
• Do not indulge in any activity that exacerbates soreness of piercing. You may feel like rotating the facial jewelry or removing it. Avoid any of these, until the wound is healed and a clear hole is created. You are expected to leave jewelry as it is, unless the piercer suggests you to change it.
• In times of need, touch the pierced portion after thorough washing of hands with an antibacterial soap and water. Never make a mistake of contacting the piercing with unwashed hands. During the healing process, avoid contact of facial piercing with any kind of cosmetic products (lotion, cream).
• Cleaning is an essential part of body and facial piercing aftercare. For this, you can use either a sterile saline water solution or perfume-free antimicrobial soap. Do not use hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, harsh soaps or other commercial products. They may cause skin irritation and lengthen wound healing.
• Purchase packaged saline solution from pharmaceutical centers, or make it at home by dissolving ¼ teaspoon sea salt (not iodized salt) in 1 cup lukewarm water. Invert the same cup over the pierced site. Likewise, soak the area in this solution for about 5-10 minutes, two times in a day.
• If soaking treatment with saline water seems difficult, dip a clean Q-tip in the solution and use it gently to saturate the piercing and jewelry. Then, rinse to remove traces of salt solution and piercing secretions. Keep the jewelry undisturbed while cleaning with saline water.
• Coming to the use of antimicrobial soap for cleaning, use a small amount of liquid soap to clean piercing and jewelry. This can be done one or two times a day. At any point of time, avoid over cleaning. Instead of doing anything good, it extends the recovery period.
• After cleaning, the next important step is drying. Do not use bath towel for rubbing the area. Everything that you use over the area should be sterile and free of microbes. Disposable tissue paper is the best to dab the area dry.

In the initial days after piercing, localized redness, swelling, pain and tenderness to touch are common signs. So, don't be alarmed if you experienced these symptoms. As the wound starts healing, a whitish yellow fluid is produced in the piercing site that dries and forms crust. It can be removed at the time of cleaning. As a part of following facial piercing aftercare, avoid sharing public pools and using bathtubs to reduce infections. The healing time for facial piercings vary according to the conducted type. Say for instance, piercing in the nostril will require about 1 - 1½ months to heal completely, whereas nose bridge piercing heals within 1½ - 2½ months. It is to be borne in mind that tongue piercings are more risky as compared to other procedures. The reason is, tongue remains moist, thereby increasing the risk of infections. The logic for problem free healing is to adopt the care tips exactly, as instructed by the body piercer.